Behind America’s dollar hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that more...quietly fuels our fast-food nation: corn. In KING CORN , recent college graduates Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis leave the east coast for rural Iowa, where they decide to grow an acre of the nation’s most powerful crop.

Alarmed by signs of America’s bulging waistlines, the filmmakers arrive in the Midwest enthusiastic about their new endeavor. For their farm-to-be, they choose a tiny town in Floyd, County, Iowa—a place that, coincidentally, both Ian and Curt’s great-grandfathers called home three generations ago. They lease an acre of land from a skeptical landlord, fill out a pile of paperwork to sign up for subsidies and discover the U.S. government will pay them 28 dollars for their acre. Ian and Curt start the spring by injecting ammonia fertilizer, which promises to increase crop production four-fold. Then it’s planting time.

With a rented high-tech tractor, they set 31,000 seeds in the ground in just 18 minutes. Their corn has also been genetically modified for another yield-increasing characteristic: herbicide resistance. When the seedlings sprout from Iowa’s black dirt, Ian and Curt apply a powerful herbicide to ensure that only their corn will thrive on their acre.

As Ian and Curt discover, almost everything Americans eat contains corn. High-fructose corn syrup, corn-fed meat, and corn-based processed foods are the staples of the modern diet. America’s record harvests of corn are supported by a government subsidy system that promotes corn production beyond all market demand. As Ian and Curt return to Iowa to watch their 10,000-pound harvest fill the combine’s hopper and make its way into America’s food, they realize their acre of land shouldn’t be planted in corn again—if they can help it.

Join list to get latest news and new video posts, delivered directly to your email!

Subscribe to she-who-remembers email list.
"Low on Bandwidth; High on Substance."

The opinions in videos we feature do not necessarily reflect those of SWR-TV. These videos are meant as food for thought to inspire your own research and evaluation, not as an endorsement.
If you agree with the ideas and opinions expressed, we urge you to support the video's producers by purchasing a hard copy, or making some donation to their cause. SWR-TV is not in the business of persuading you or anyone else to believe anything that that is linked to from this site, but it does encourage you to use all available resources to form your own judgement about important things that effect your life.

If you like what you see here, please join our mail list, and TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!